It is known to provide conveyers for suspended articles which can allow for temporary immobilization of a suspended article, e.g. for cleaning establishments and in like facilities where the articles are garments on hangers and the immobilization of the article and/or a hanger carrier, will allow an article to be mounted upon the conveyer, generally at a selected location, or a garment or other article to be removed from the conveyer.
The conveyer itself may have a variety of path shapes, all of which are endless, and in some of the prior art systems, while the drive motor was operated continuously, the entire conveyer system apart from the drive had to be stopped and restarted for each emplacement or removal of an article.
In German open application No. DE-OS 19 33 036, a conveyer for suspended articles was described in which the element upon which the hangers were placed included a light-weight band disposed on edge and suspended, in turn from a track via rollers. In this system, however, the temporary immobilization of an article on the conveyer was not permitted or was not convenient. In the system of U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,420, the endless band, also disposed on edge, was provided with a friction drive. This band had a multiplicity of oval holes in which the hangers for the garments could be engaged. In systems in which a carrier for articles could be immobilized with continuous movement of the conveyer, far more complex arrangements were employed which were not compatible with suspended article conveyers.
In these latter systems, trolleys of the so-called "power and free" type were provided in which the carrier was suspended on a track and could be selectively engaged by or disengaged from a chain or other continuously displaced element. The problems with such systems devolved from the complexity of the coupling required between the continuously displaced endless element and the trolley or carriage on its track or guide.